With only two days left in May, I thought it might be useful to do a roundup of four dishes I’ve done out of “Food52 Genius Recipes.” I’m going to write about them in the order of preference.

Grilled Cheese [Sorry. No picture.]

We had this twice over the course of the month and both times the sandwiches were eaten before I could take a picture. I suppose that tells you everything you need to know. While I’m still not sure you need a proper recipe for a grilled cheese, the “Genius” aspect of this was to spread mayonnaise on the outside of the bread, rather than the traditional butter. By doing it this way, there’s less risk of burning the bread. I’m not sure how this method is a genius method over my usual way of making grilled cheese, which is to spread Lurpak spreadable butter on the outside of the bread. I might have to make grilled cheese again, with one sandwich using the Genius method and the other to use my own and see what works better. Either way, grilled cheese is ALWAYS a win for lunch.

Would I make it again? Obviously yes, though I’m still not sure about the method.

This is simple personified. In fact, I made it even simpler by buying a basmati rice and wild rice mixture and using that. Score one for the home team. Aside from the rice, the other ingredients are red onion, celery and parsley, and the dressing is a mixture of oils with blasamic vinegar and dijon mustard. Like I said, simple personified. I made it one night to go with our barbeque meal. I quickly demolished the leftovers the next day for lunch, when they were even tastier. Some times simple really is better.

Unfortunately, this recipe isn’t posted on Food52 for some reason, so you can’t click through this sentence to see it yourself.

Basic Hummus [Sorry. No picture.]

This recipe is out of one of my favourite cookbooks, “Jerusalem”, which we reviewed on this site in May 2014. I already knew what I was getting into when I made it again. Forewarned is forearmed: This is a TOTAL faff to make. I’m still undecided as to whether the faff is worth it. I suppose it is, but only just. It takes a full 24 hours of planning and patience, given that you have to soak the chick peas overnight, and then there’s multiple steps to make it happen. While the hummus was delicious, it does take a fair amount of dedication. Also you should know that you end up with a vat of hummus. Okay, maybe it’s not a vat, but it felt like it, given that the bowl I filled was about 10 times the size of the usual hummus container I buy at our local supermarket. After three days, we’re still trying to finish the hummus and we’re not even close yet.

Would I make it again? Maybe for a party, when I could be assured that we would eat through it all. Otherwise, maybe I’ll try it again but make only half of it. I’ve made it before and I’ll make it again, but every time I ask myself, “Do I really want to dedicate the time to getting this finished?” Some times the answer to that is yes. Some times, the answer is no.

Usually I am a sucker for roasted butternut squash, so I approached this recipe with a fair amount of enthusiasm. Listen, I love roasted butternut squash so much that I made the Jerusalem version for our Christmas lunch, even though it didn’t really go with the rest of the dishes (though my vegan friend Anne and I HOOVERED it up and there were no leftovers.)

But this one just didn’t stack up, unfortunately. It just wasn’t as good as the Jerusalem recipe, which I know and love ardently. Given that the rest of the family is less enthused about the vegetable [read: They don’t really like it] this went over like a lead balloon.